The Pirate Bay now has a category for 3D printable objects but I can’t verify this because some genius seems to have blocked my access to that site.
3D printing is a fad with a difference. Comparing it to the Augmented Reality fad from the last couple of years, it looks like 3D printing will be used for things other than just advertising. People are actually making stuff. They’re using complex programs to design the structure and then actually making stuff.
While it is entirely possible that the sum total of 3D printing may be the proliferation of plastic crap, the ability to create small objects which may be useful for learning or even for medicine cannot be ignored.
From the skull picture above it would seem almost “now-ist” rather than “futurist” to think that all hospitals should have their own 3D printers. As a tool for education, manufacture or even just leisure, I believe that 3D printers are reaching unprecedented levels of affordability for people in developed regions.
MakerBot retails for $2,200, you can get a PrintrBot for as little as $399. For $1,299, the Cubify model seems amazing.
The success of the 3D printing revolution will be based upon access to the skills to make the designs and if you do not have the skills, then the access to pre-made designs. Blocking access to these designs is potentially economic sabotage.
Would it not be entirely pointless unless you had a 3D Printer? At the risk of sounding like a luddite, aren’t they rather pricey?
The second half of your post answered both of my questions, it’s useful to hit ‘refresh’ every once in a while to make sure I load the whole article…
I’m not impressed by the cubify site. The hardware is neat, but it’s full of rip-off “designer” kits by designers nobody has heard of, and which you can’t print yourself – defeating the entire purpose of 3d printing. Somebody didn’t get the memo.